diff --git a/src/cmd/cmd.cpp b/src/cmd/cmd.cpp
index 0b8636bea6..55d924b6e7 100644
--- a/src/cmd/cmd.cpp
+++ b/src/cmd/cmd.cpp
@@ -445,7 +445,9 @@ restart_sync:
         if (!f.open(QFile::ReadOnly)) {
             qCritical() << "Could not open file containing the list of unsynced folders: " << options.unsyncedfolders;
         } else {
-            selectiveSyncList = QString::fromUtf8(f.readAll()).split('\n');
+            // filter out empty lines and comments
+            selectiveSyncList = QString::fromUtf8(f.readAll()).split('\n').filter(QRegExp("\\S+")).filter(QRegExp("^[^#]"));
+
             for (int i = 0; i < selectiveSyncList.count(); ++i) {
                 if (!selectiveSyncList.at(i).endsWith(QLatin1Char('/'))) {
                     selectiveSyncList[i].append(QLatin1Char('/'));